General clinicians conduct most forensic psychiatric examinations and provide most psychiatric testimony. Yet these clinicians often receive little or no training in forensic psychiatry, leaving them ill prepared to meet the inevitable ethical and legal challenges that arise. Both timely and informative, this textbook is the first reference designed and written for both the general clinician and the experienced forensic psychiatrist. Here, 28 recognized experts introduce the forensic subjects that commonly arise in clinical practice. Unique in the literature, this outstanding collection covers • Introductory subjects—Organized psychiatry and forensic practice; the legal system and the distinctions between therapeutic and forensic roles; business aspects of starting a forensic practice; the role of the expert witness; the differences between the ethics of forensic and clinical psychiatry; the use of DSM in the courtroom; and issues that arise in working with attorneys• Civil litigation—The standard of care and psychiatric malpractice; civil competency; issues in conducting evaluations for personal injury litigation; personal injury claims of psychiatric harm; and disability determination and other employment-related psychiatric evaluations• Criminal justice—Competency to stand trial and insanity evaluations; the use of actuarial and clinical assessments in the evaluation of sexual offenders; psychiatry in correctional settings; and the relationship between psychiatry and law enforcement, including mental health training, crisis negotiation, and fitness for duty evaluations• Special topics—Assessment of malingering; evaluations of children and adolescents; violence risk assessments; the use of prediction instruments to determine "dangerousness"; and the evolving standard of expert psychological testimony Each chapter is organized around case examples and includes a review of key concepts, practical guidelines, and references for further reading. A study guide is also available for use in teaching, in studying, and in preparing for the forensic board examination. This practical textbook makes this interesting specialty accessible to trainees and seasoned practitioners. With its detailed glossary of legal terms, subject index, and index of legal cases, it will be a welcome addition to all psychiatric residency and forensic fellowship programs.

This important volume is the first to address the use of neuroimaging in civil and criminal forensic contexts and to include discussion of prior precedents and court decisions. Equally useful for practicing psychiatrists and psychologists, it reviews both the legal and ethical consideraitons of neuroimaging.

This book provides an overview of forensic psychiatry, focusing on the provision of care in Europe as well as the legal and ethical challenges posed by long-term stays in forensic settings. Forensic psychiatric services provide care and treatment for mentally disordered offenders (MDOs) in secure in-patient facilities as well as in the community. These services are high-cost/low-volume services; they pose significant restrictions on patients and hence raise considerable ethical challenges. There is no agreed-upon standard for length of stay (LoS) in secure settings and patients’ detainment periods vary considerably across countries and even within the same jurisdiction. Thus far, little research has been conducted to identify factors associated with length of stay; consequently, it remains unclear how services should be configured to meet the needs of this patient group. This volume fills some of those gaps. Furthermore, it presents new research on factors associated with length of stay, both patient-related and organisational. Various approaches to the provision of care for long-term patients in different countries are explored, including a few best practise examples in this specific area of psychiatry. The book also addresses the perspective of those working in forensic care by reviewing quality-of-life research and interviews with patients. The authors of this volume come from a range of professional backgrounds, ensuring a certain breadth and depth in the topic discussion, and even includes patients themselves as (co-)authors.

This subject, written for psychiatrists, is of importance and relevance to psychiatrists dealing with apsects of the practice that cross with legal professionals and with school and corporate professionals. This subject of Forensic Psychiatry presents topics on: Psychopharmacologic treatment of aggression; Assessment of blackouts and claimed amnesia; Forensic assessment of bullying; Testamentary capacity and guardianship assessments; Psychological testing and the assessment of malingering; Child murder by parents; Mass murderers: who are they and how might we stop them?; Child pornography and the Internet; Do's and don'ts of depositions; Juvenile offenders: Updates on competency and culpability; The role of the forensic psychiatrist in the immigration process; and Psychiatric Management of the Problematic Employee. The topics are presented to include coverage of Nature and Definition of the Problem, Physical Examination, Evaluation, Competency Evaluation, Clinical Assessment Strategies, Psychiatric Testing Strategies, Reaching an Opinion, with Key Points of every topic.

Highly Commended, BMA Medical Book Awards 2014Comprehensive and erudite, Forensic Psychiatry: Clinical, Legal and Ethical Issues, Second Edition is a practical guide to the psychiatry of offenders, victims, and survivors of crime. This landmark publication has been completely updated but retains all the features that made the first edition such a w

The second edition of this award-winning textbook has been thoroughly revised and updated throughout. Building on the success of the first edition, the book continues to address the History and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry, Legal Regulation of the Practice of Psychiatry, Psychiatry in relation to Civil Law, Criminal Law, and Family Law. Important sections such as Special Issues in Forensic Psychiatry, Law and the Legal System, and Landmark Cases in Mental Health Law are included. Designed to meet the needs of practitioners of forensic psychiatry, for residents in forensic psychiatry, and those preparing for the specialty examination in Forensic Psychiatry of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, this volume will also answer the many questions faced by mental health professionals, mental health administrators, correctional health professionals and correctional health administrators, attorneys, judges, probation and parole officers and administrators all of whom, at one time or another, require a substantive presentation of the entire field of forensic psychiatry in the USA.

Lawyers frequently encounter clients and/or cases of bizarre behavior, mental illness, substance abuse, psychopathy, sexual offenses, learning disorders, birth defects, and other behavioral and emotional issues. Often they are ill-prepared to understand the nature of the psychiatric report, how the psychiatric assessment was structured, and how to best utilize and challenge these reports in court.Forensic Psychiatry: A Lawyer's Guide provides legal professionals the tools to identify mentally ill clients and help them navigate through the psychiatric information and language in reports and testimony. Topics include why a forensic psychiatrist is necessary, applications of psychiatry to law, various psychiatric disorders, and utilizing the expert witness. - A user-friendly roadmap to psychiatry for the non-psychiatrist—covers why you need a forensic psychiatrist and the applications of psychiatry to law - Provides coverage of the mental status examination, common psychiatric diagnoses, treatable disorders versus brain damage, medical problems masquerading as mental illness, and much more - Includes a full glossary of psychiatric terms as an additional easy reference guide